I've done the trip, the length of Superior with others in trade canoes...21 days to Thunder Bay. Got to the Fort in time for Dominion Day, and consorted with the local ladies for three days. Down to the American fort (what a joke) for the Fourth. Then up the Grande Portage, one trip was enough. Then up to the Height Of Land....and later, home. June/July, 1979.

Some the toughest kind of real men there ever was, and they had no doubt of their manhood!

@charlesleblanc6638

Ай бұрын

You got that right ... There was no toxic masculinity, or I don't identify as a male ! You had to be male, and a good solid one at that.

@tomh6183

5 күн бұрын

AYE!

They hardly even touched on the hardships these guys lived through. Tough guys to be sure. I love these old NFB videos. We used to get the old super 8 projector out and watch them in school.

I always show this to my Canadian history class. I wish there were subtitles, though.

I remember seeing this in fifth grade around 2 years ago. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it weren't for the panful hours of work I had to do, this was online school so I did the work with my mother and she made me squeeze every bit of information out of the video. but I am grateful that she did cuz I got a MIGHTY fine grade on the assignment.

I showed this video to my Grade 4 social studies class today. (We're learning about the fur trade.) They enjoyed the songs and they liked the part where the voyageurs go through the rapids. Great video.

My school made me watch this

@throwaway_6485

3 жыл бұрын

same

@xiexiatong8665

3 жыл бұрын

Same home boy-

@iiprandz-officialyoutubech5784

3 жыл бұрын

Same

@creeperparty7831

3 жыл бұрын

same bro

@t-train2148

3 жыл бұрын

Same

In 1967 i saw the re enactment of their Journey across eastern Canada...to the Prairies......a lot of paddling !

One night the cast of this movie got wasted and broke a bunch of glass beer bottles while camping on Georgian Bay. In the morning producer Bill Mason made the crew clean up all the glass and garbage otherwise he would not continue on. He always set a good example

@nomadchopper

6 жыл бұрын

Anne Routes got few guys in Canada off Pogie EH

@mrhindin3070

4 жыл бұрын

So they were method actors, getting deep into character.

@mickyalberta3484

4 жыл бұрын

Aww they were method actors getting into character.

@markdemell3717

3 жыл бұрын

As it should be . I love this kind of stuff.

@hohetannen4703

Ай бұрын

@@mrhindin3070C’EST LAVIRON QUIS NOUS MENE HAUT!!!!

I chuckle every time I watch this when the one dude hops out and has a pair of Chuck Taylor's on, haha.

@jamesn5595

5 жыл бұрын

also the gold watch, lol

@paxtonk2

5 жыл бұрын

How about the tent with mosquito netting?

@16mmMaestro

5 жыл бұрын

Awesome observation, I think you might have spotted a time traveller right there ;)!!!

@samhurst4084

3 жыл бұрын

Or the second specs

Fabulous, way better than fiction. 58 years a Canadian, they don't make em like they used to.

@mantistobogganmd6580

3 ай бұрын

One of my forebears was a Voyageur, he was pushed out of a canoe during a fight injuring his leg and was forced into early retirement, ended up settling around Detroit where he later died.

@marcusaetius9309

Ай бұрын

You got that right!

I love this short film these men were hard core I could not fathom paddling for 15 hours a day. I love canoeing and try to spend 5 hours during the weekend on the water and I am tired by the end of my outing. I love the work of the Mason family Bill, Becky, and Paul and their dear wife and Mom.

My school made me watch this,we’re not even Canadian…we’re American.

@arumrunner

5 ай бұрын

Well, find a canoe now and get on the water!

@hohetannen4703

26 күн бұрын

It’s a big part of Minnesota’s history, the froggies were the first white people to come this way. Unless you believe the ancient Viking runestones to be real… it’s funny, my Ojibwe friend thinks they are but me, a German American, I am doubtful.

It's been almost 8 years since I first saw this documentary, and the song at the beginning is still deeply ingrained in my memory

@courtneydyck2616

2 жыл бұрын

@pink_dolphinplays8677

2 жыл бұрын

@@courtneydyck2616 how do u get those emojis!!???!?

@ryangrimm9305

7 ай бұрын

Learned to sing that and others in our Canoe Brigade, back in the late 70's. It actually has a funny ending....

@danmac314

5 ай бұрын

​@ryangrimm9305 what is the song?

@ryangrimm9305

5 ай бұрын

"Riding one day, the road to Rochelle City..." is all I remember, it HAS been nearly 40 years..... It's about a man riding his horse to Rochelle City, and along the way he picks up a pretty young hitchhiker, and when he gets to her house.... THe rest I leave to the mists f time, it's too damned long to type out the whole thing. @@danmac314

Amazing. Saw them in Little Current. Had arms like tree trunks.

I used to watch this from time to time. Now I just listen to it every week. This should have 100 million views not 100 thousand. I wish I was a voyageur!

@16mmMaestro

5 жыл бұрын

It sure is a gem!

@ostrowulf

7 күн бұрын

Video is good... being a voyageur sounds brutal.

Brings to life a song we New York schoolchildren sang about 75 years ago: From the wilds of the North / Comes the young voyageur, With his buoyant canoe/ Well laden with fur. Gladsome and free, / Little cares he, For there’s joy in the heart /Of the young voyageur.

This is so amazing how you recreated the voyageurs in history to the present!

I watched this 2 years ago at my school but it’s so good

The voyageurs are the heroes of Canadian history-what they went through is unbelievable. Men of steel and great skill. There wasn't a river they didn't conquer upstream and downstream and their paddles opened up the west.

@aperson8792

5 жыл бұрын

No there not

@chrissmith2921

5 жыл бұрын

@@aperson8792 yes they are

@boopdoggy

4 жыл бұрын

some times there not and some times they are!

@courtneydyck2616

2 жыл бұрын

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

@bensyroishka6335

Жыл бұрын

@@aperson8792 how???

I'm sad to say that this beautiful film, these amazing men, you can't find many now days. cahoots to u guys who still go and play and travel like these

@16mmMaestro

5 жыл бұрын

Amen!

@boopdoggy

4 жыл бұрын

ya

@jcrass2361

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I never see ripped guys with beards anymore lol

thanks for the great memory of when i first saw this. i remember it each time i fish at french river!

I remember watching this in grade 5. Man, I hated the teacher who showed the class this I am glad she showed it to us. Made a hell on an impression on me

@markdemell3717

3 жыл бұрын

History,good and bad.

@cameronball6781

Жыл бұрын

Same bro

One of my favorites from the NFB.

I thoroughly enjoyed that film. Makes me want to go on a canoe for the day.

@boopdoggy

4 жыл бұрын

I do too!;) I love to go on a canoe

two of my great great grandfathers were first cousins best friends and were voyageurs and their adventures were handed down.

@colemancalgary5260

6 жыл бұрын

bleusammy sure they were

@doughroasterbushcraftandsu3947

5 жыл бұрын

So you’re an inbred

@colemancalgary5260

5 жыл бұрын

How old are you! 150? I don’t think you took your medication today

@rylandwarren5935

5 жыл бұрын

I think he was off on the great great. I also have ancestors that were voyageurs for the Hudson bay company

@boopdoggy

4 жыл бұрын

cooooooooooool

Please don’t delete these videos. I need the nostalgia.

@Luhvrinn.

3 ай бұрын

super true :)

@AgentAreYouthere

27 күн бұрын

True

OJ Sixx Remember watching this in during the 70s s

this is my favourite video on youtube

I watched this in school in Grade 5

"How the men who are employed in this difficult navigation exist, without ruining their constitutions, is a mystery which I am utterly unable to explain. They are compelled, almost every hour, when actually melting with heat and fainting through fatigue, to jump into the water, frequently up to their arm-pits, and to remain in it towing the boast, until they are completely chilled. They then have recourse to the aid of ardent spirits, of which on all occasions they freely partake, and, in a few minutes, are once more bathed in perspiration" (Edward A. Talbot 1824). The voyageurs were the backbone of the NWC, moving furs and trade goods over a route that spanned 5000 km. Once the canoes were prepared and the goods packaged, the men set off from Lachine in May. They proceeded to St-Anne-de-Bellevue, where they attended religious services. It is from here that the men considered the start of their trip, as it was the last church to be seen on the island of Montreal. Today, the church of the town is still dedicated to the tutelary saint of many French settlers in Canada, the cult of which can be traced to the Normandy and Brittany of the Middle Ages. It was expected that each voyageur work at least 14 hours a day, paddle 50 strokes a minute and be able to carry two "pièces" of 90 pounds across each portage. Voyageurs suffered from drowning, hernias and broken limbs, twisted spines, rheumatism as well as clouds of black flies and mosquitoes against which the best repellent was a mix of bear grease and skunk urine. The voyageur's daily routine was a back-breaking one: for the 6 to 8 weeks he was on the road, he was roused as early as 3 am, and set off without eating breakfast. Before 8 o'clock, a breakfast stop was made on a beach. At around 2 in the afternoon, a midday lunch was served on the boat, though often lunch was only an opportunity to chew a piece of pemmican or "biscuit" while rowing. A stop was made for a few minutes each hour to allow the men to have a pipe. This event was so important that distances came to be measured in pipes: 3 pipes might equal 15 to 20 miles of travel. A 32 km lake would be measured as 4 pipes or 4 hours of travel, depending on wind and waves. At nightfall, the canoes were unloaded and turned over to serve as shelters. Supper, which was pre-cooked the night before, was warmed and served. The men dropped down on turf, moss or beach with their heads under the overturned canoes. A tarp provided protection from wind and rain. During the night, a kettle filled with 9 quarts of peas and water was hung over the fire, added to it were strips of pork. This simmered until daylight, when the cook added four "biscuits" and continued to let it simmer. At dawn, the call "lève lève nos gens", resounded through the camp. Canoes were loaded and launched. The swelling of the peas and biscuit had now filled the kettle to the brim, so thick that a stick would stand upright in it. Three pipes, or about 12 miles of paddling were done before breakfast. digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/08.htm

@thelandofart5032

3 жыл бұрын

WTF

Did he just say bear grease and skunk oil?!?! Good God man! I believe it 😂

I remember seeing this as a kid

Watching in the dead of winter in eager anticipation of upcoming summer adventures in the bwca of northern minnesota and quetico in southern Ontario!

These NFB films should be mandatory Canadain Content on TV even today.

ah, timeless. collapsing someones tent or, if it is a really light person, grabbing a foot and yanking them out into the morning sun. such wonderful fun.

Yay! Many thanks to the Squints in the NFB Tech Department for re-uploading this film. To all you folks who complained for years about the previous upload of this file being corrupted, maybe next time you may wish to send a note to the NFB, because I'm fairly certain they don't read KZread Comments on their uploads. It only took a couple days for them to re-upload the file here after I sent them a note about it not working. - Just sayin'

@amynikkel495

8 жыл бұрын

🚿🏫🗿🏬🏤🏥🏦🔩🚿

such pride I have for the like as these.

"Good Stuff," merci.

so helpful thankyou so much

Because I like this video I'm compelled to say, the FilmBoard Rulz..or used to.

These were tough men!

Beautiful!

oh yeah! back then they totally had high-end glasses like that nice job kid

Remembered watching this in school on film not video tape I watched intently I did.

Read “Astoria” for a great description of these sturdy and impressive men.

@jessecerasus9621

2 жыл бұрын

This book is hard to find!

Good video. Thanks.

Loving it. Great country! From Russia with love

EXCELLENT!

those dudes would in good shape after a summer doing this madness.

@StormLaker

7 жыл бұрын

Work on a forest service crew in the Boundary Waters Canoe area...same result, haha.

@summer20105707

7 жыл бұрын

Madness?? My god it made them strong and healthy.

@zachhoy

4 жыл бұрын

or strained

For those of us who trace our ancestry to Quebec from the 1600's forward....

@markdemell3717

3 жыл бұрын

my 8 times great grand father Jacques Amable Lemeilleur is from Rouen france and my great great grandfather was a Hessian soldier who settled in Quebec,Quebec. Adam Rohmann.

loved it

Oui, merci.

EXCELLENT

the music tho LOL

18:30....The amount canoes wrecked and goods lost is astounding! it happened alot.

@sarahjean629

4 жыл бұрын

a lot**

These men were about 5 feet tall and carried loads that would cause any of us to rupture

thank you

@courtneydyck2616

2 жыл бұрын

hi

Didn't realize at the time when i was doing the french River part 1981 including 450 lb canoes with 70lb packs when we portaged that i would look back and think just how lucky i was to do exactly described in this video

My Family has documentation that our first ancestors to New France Jeanne Daigle was a Voyager. We also have documentation that he made at least on voyage with Raddison of Hudson Bay Co fame.

anyone else watching this for a school assignment? lol

@allstar1470

2 жыл бұрын

Ydd

The version of "Ma jolie rochelle" at the beginning is truly beautiful. Does anybody know where (if anywhere) I can find it on it separately?

@Pressureproductions

3 жыл бұрын

Been looking for a wee while now. Close i've got is kzread.info/dash/bejne/o4Cclpd6YbfUoKQ.html&ab_channel=AlanMills-Topic. I think the song is actually called "C'est l'Aviron". The link is sent is a pretty good version.

@Pressureproductions

3 жыл бұрын

Just checked the ending credits, this is indeed the singer, but i figure the NFB brought in a few extras to get the round going. You'll hear in the link his voice is essentially the same. Amazing tune!

@Jim63071

3 жыл бұрын

@@Pressureproductions Thanks!

@jessecerasus9621

2 жыл бұрын

In Quebec it is called ''C'est l'aviron''

Français Du Sang. Thxs.

Entrañable video. Saludos desde Spain river Ebro

I had to watch it at my school learn about the French wizard

That intro song reminds me of a Clockwork Orange

My teacher made us watch this😂😂

Merci.

Artist: ayo new song just dropped The song: 0:24

The very first North-American heroes are those French fur traders and explorers who went down to the Mississipi and as far as the Rockies. They knew how to deal with the natives. Daniel Boon and Davie Crocket are just kids compared to them.

@e.grieves2905

2 жыл бұрын

Mmmm....Boone not so much

My school made me watch this as well

that paddled all across Canada

I think that's Lord Stanley's Keg being passed around at about 14:30.

9:51 like they be carrying a lot of bags 😯

This is why modern society seems to suck so much; we don't all get a mid-morning spirit break.

I am gobsmacked that they can do 70 miles in a day, minus portages.

The heat in summer in the bush is unbearable! And to carry heavy endless loads of goods over rocky, tangled ground at a portage is unthinkable for the modern man! He'd crack in less than an hour!

We watch this on my school in social studies

I believe I may of seen this in school at some point,it look's familiar.

The bow paddler is Irwin 'Buzz' Peterson.

@timgarec6240

4 жыл бұрын

I think Bill Mason is also one of the paddlers

What is the name of the fiddle/accordion tune that starts around 14:00 and goes for about a minute?

im watching this for school please help

@throwaway_6485

3 жыл бұрын

it is annoying

Love to know the song in the beginning

Cool

Does anyone have any information on the music and songs used in this documentary? Thank you

" Such is their misery that they literally run with their loads" if you can't relate to that go to BWCA or Quetico or anywhere in northern Wisconsin with a long portage and you'll know why!

@matak99

4 жыл бұрын

Killarney. The Pig.

It’s march 20 2023, and we are watching this for our history class. Man this is horing

notice one voyageurs gold watch. lol.

They French engages came past my home Canadian River... in todays Oklahoma

Wow

They some modern looking glasses back then. :)

@roseporter6824

4 жыл бұрын

Greg Surrell LoL

@boopdoggy

4 жыл бұрын

It is fake!Ok

@gregsurrell598

4 жыл бұрын

Chris Doll it’s a bad recreation.

Same

As much as i liked the video i am still reminded that it is but a version of the full story of trading in North America - paddling up and down the rivers was the fun part... the bigger story of trading ( which really takes off when the Hudson's Bay Company was founded in 1672 by King Charles and Prince Rupert ) was about a vicious cycle of competition by a few well funded capitalists who understood nothing but the power of money and of the monopoly of resources - the voyageurs were the corporate and were often struggling with the independents and with the natives whom they bought off whenever they could ..... this is a polite version at best imo - weeks in a canoe looks like fun until shtf !!!

Gigachads of the fur trade.

Me too

I have earned the Title of Northman, and anyone who has done so, knows the terrors of northern rivers and wild lands. paddled.

I beg you. Who is the group singing "c'est l'aviron"? No info anywhere. Les Quators Alouettes?

@berkeleyfleming8516

Ай бұрын

It is then well-known and beloved traditional folksinger Alan Mills and a male chorus. The chours was perhaps the Art Morrow Singers. My father was responsible for the music for the film, some of which was original. That would include arrangements of traditional tunes.

@jokeobden

Ай бұрын

I have been waiting nine years for this. Well worth the wait! Thank you so much!

hey class

I LOVE CUPCAKES

@MrSdougiss

6 жыл бұрын

I love that thight ass of yours

@boopdoggy

4 жыл бұрын

me too

what are they drinking on the night before the end?